Raining On Prom Night
by Caramelchan
Summary: What would happen in the CSIs were 16 and all in the same class at school..? MAJOR character bashing and shipping! Be warned!
1. The Bus Ride

Ryan Wolfe stepped onto the bus. He chose a pair of empty seats and sat down on one, his bag on the other. He pulled a book out of his bag and started reading.

Every time someone came on the bus, he watched them take their seats.

There was a tall girl with curly dark hair who sat down next to a guy with ginger hair and sunglasses and behind them was a black girl with dark, straight hair. Opposite her was a tall thin guy whose clothes looked as if they had never seen an iron. This guy and the black girl were talking and the girl's voice was warm and friendly.

When the bus next stopped, a girl got on and headed for the back. For the thought first time, Ryan noticed the huge group of cheerleaders and jocks sitting at the rear of the bus.

Next time the bus stopped, another cheerleader got on. She had long blonde hair and bright green eyes. Ryan thought she was a stunning girl, and decided to offer her the seat next to him.

"…Hi…Err…Do you…um…"

She glanced at her friends at the back of the bus, who giggled and then she looked at him impatiently, her eyebrows arched.

"Doyouwannasitwithme?" The question had come out in a rush, not exactly how Ryan had intended.

"What?" Her southern accent was unmistakeable.

Ryan sighed. "Nothing."

He returned to his book, his face burning and the laughs of others around him ringing in his ears.

He watched as this girl went to sit at the back of the bus, surrounded by other girls, all of them giggling.

"Oh my gosh! Who is he? Calleigh, I can't believe he _did_ that!"

"Get over yourself Duquesne!" called Catherine Willows. The skinny, ginger haired girl a few rows from Calleigh sneered, but everyone knew that she was actually jealous of Calleigh's popularity.

Catherine continued, "You aren't as popular as you think you are."

"Shut up Cath! Just because no one wants to sit with you!" said Calleigh, the girl Ryan had spoken to

Calleigh turned back to her friends.

"He's a new kid!", said Calleigh. "Don't be too hard on him!"

This bought more laughter and shouts of "You were!"

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They giggled and gossiped for a while until the bus stopped again.

The driver sighed. "Eric Delko is late. _Again." _

We waited for a moment before the door of the nearest house opened and a tall Cuban jock came running out, closely followed by a large woman.

"Eric! You forgot your lunch!" she screeched.

The jock, Eric, stopped and turned to the woman that was obviously his mother and said "Thanks Mamma."

He took the small package and turned to get on the bus, but the woman enveloped him in a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek, leaving crimson smudges of lipstick.

The whole bus had seen everything. They all whooped and jeered before collapsing into uncontrollable laughter as Eric got on. He sat down over two seats, behind the scruffy guy called Speed, and in front of the jocks.

Speed was still laughing. "I'm not going to let you forget this, you know!"

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"OK Calleigh. Your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Truth. Definitely truth."

"OK then. Which person on this bus would you most like to make out with?"

Calleigh grinned. "I'll only tell you if y'all keep it quiet, OK?"

"Sure! Of course!"

"OK. It's Eric Delko."

All the girls squealed and Calleigh blushed slightly.

The girl sitting next to Calleigh stood up and yelled down the aisle to Eric. "Hey Eric! Calleigh wants to make out with you!"

Eric's head snapped round, along with the eyes of most of the bus.

He saw Calleigh scowling at the girl next to her, but when he met her eyes, the scowl softened. Slightly.

He grinned at her and turned away.

He turned back to Speed, still grinning like an idiot.

"What's put you in such a good mood today?" Speed asked.

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The bus arrived at the school gates just in time for registration. Calleigh, who was wearing a tank-top under her unbuttoned shirt, was first into the room, closely followed by her large group of friends.

Horatio, the ginger boy, Yelina, his curly haired friend, Alexx, the black girl, and Speed, the scruffy guy, followed them

As they filed into their first classroom, their teacher tried to sort out their uniform.

"Duquesne! Do up your shirt! Speedle, where's your tie? Caine, if I have to tell you to remove your sunglasses again, I will have you in detention!"

Eric Delko strolled in seconds before the bell, his shirt undone and Calleigh flushed red again, which didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Delko! Do up your shirt!"

The teacher was hoarse and the day had barely started.

--------------------

When the class had settled, the teacher took registration.

"Allden?"

"Here. "

"Caine?"

"Here."

"Delko?"

"Here."

"Donner?"

"Here."

"…um…Du-ces-nu, is it?"

"It's pronounced Du-cane!"

"Evans?"

"Here."

"James?"

"Here."

"Richardson?"

"Here."

"Shanks?"

"Here."

"Prest?"

"Here."

"Tripp?"

"Here."

"Williams?"

"Here."

"Wedlock?"

"Here."

"Wolfe?"

Silence.

"Has anyone seen Ryan Wolfe? The new kid?"

"I saw him on the bus!" Calleigh piped up, causing the class to snigger.

Only Eric didn't laugh, because he wasn't on the bus when Ryan had asked Calleigh to sit with him.

"Speed, what's funny?"

"I'll tell you later!"

As if on cue, Ryan Wolfe stumbled through the door, looking panicky. "Sorry sir! I got lost!"

This sent the class into fits of laughter.

The bell rang and the class headed to their first lesson, maths.


	2. Maths

**_Err.. ok everyone is really OOC character in this chappie, especially Alexx! Hehe_**

_**Almost all of the conversation in this chapter actually took place betwee me and my friend Jill, so "Hi Jill I love you for making maths slightly more interesting! Thankyou!"**_

_**

* * *

**_They filed into the classroom and sat down. 

The bell rang, the teacher came in and the class settled.

He turned to them and started talking. "Today we are going to be studying graphs, focussing on a type of graph called a parabola. Parabolas are always smooth curves, so the equation for a parabola is…"

The class switched off and started fidgeting and whispering. The teacher was oblivious to all the activity around him and just raised his voice to combat the noise of the students.

"…this kind of work is closely related to physics, so if any of you like physics, you will find this useful."

"Remind me not to take physics!" Calleigh muttered to Horatio.

The teacher saw them whispering.

"Duquesne! Be quiet! And Caine, take off your sunglasses. You don't need them inside."

The teacher turned to write an exercise on the blackboard and Horatio turned to Calleigh.

"Remind me…" he took off his sunglasses slowly, "…to not take maths."

Calleigh snorted and the teacher rounded on her.

"Duquesne! Do I have to send you to the principal?"

"No sir. Sorry."

He turned away and Calleigh collapsed into silent giggles.

As the teacher wrote on the board, Eric threw a piece of paper at Speed. He threw it back, but missed and hit Ryan instead. Ryan threw it back at Speed, who ducked. It hit Horatio on the head. He picked up the paper plane he had been working on and threw it across the room. Suddenly, the whole room was engaged in a silent, yet fierce, paper war. Alexx and Yelina were tearing up their exercise books and lobbing paper balls left, right and centre and Maxine Valera had ducked under the table and was making paper planes.

Calleigh's back was hit by a low-flying piece of paper. She span around and her eyes met with John Hagen. He was leering at her from two rows away and was obviously the one who had hit her. She picked up what he had thrown and threw it back immediately, but with better accuracy.

She turned back to her own desk, just in time to see a paper plane land. She unfolded it and read.

_Cal, do you want to go to the prom with me? ED_

Grinning, she scribbled an answer under Eric's writing and threw it back to him. Just as she did, the teacher turned around.

Eric caught the plane and hid it unnoticed, but Calleigh wasn't as lucky.

"Duquesne! Go and wait outside the principal's office!"

"What! Why?"

"Throwing paper darts around is not acceptable behaviour!"

"But sir…"

"No buts or I'll keep you in detention."

Reluctantly Calleigh picked up her bag and headed out of the classroom.

She had no intention of going to sit outside the principal's office; she headed into the nearest restroom.

--------------------

"Score!" Eric cheered quietly.

"What?" Ryan whispered.

Eric had just read Calleigh's reply to his letter.

"Sir," Eric called. "I don't have a protractor."

Speed recognised the signal and said, "I've got one he can use, Sir."

Speed didn't wait for the teacher to answer; he just got his compass and headed to Eric's desk.

"What?" he asked quietly, so he didn't give the game away.

"I've got a date for tonight!" said Eric.

"Who?"

"Calleigh!"

"Lucky boy."

"Have you got a date yet?"

Speed grinned. "Not yet…"

He walked off and crouched next to Alexx Woods' desk. He spoke to her for a few moments and when he stood up, he gave Eric the thumbs up.

As he walked away, Alexx grinned at Yelina.

"Told you I could get a date!"

"So? I've had my date planned for ages."

"Yelina, honey, the whole school knew, last month, that you would be going with Horatio! It was obvious!"

Alexx kept talking and didn't realise that the teacher was standing behind her.

"Woods! Salas! Your little conversation stops here. Salas, go and sit there, in front of Caine. Woods…" he glanced around, looking for another empty seat. The only other one was next to Speed.

"Woods, take the seat next to Speedle."

Both girls glanced at each other, before going to the seats they had been sent to.

The teacher didn't seem to realise that he had just made the noise problem a lot worse.

--------------------

Alexx and Speed were working through the maths problems together.

"OK," Speed read,"An average bag of crisps weights about 30gms. I have weighed 100 bags and worked out the average to be 37gms. Why might this be?"

They looked at each other. The question was so easy, yet so stupid.

"Who would weigh 100 bags of crisps? And why?" Alexx asked.

Speed shrugged. "Beats me. Hey, lets ask Sir!"

He raised his voice and called for the teacher. "Sir! Sir, we don't understand this question! Can you come and help us?"

The teacher, who seemed to be losing the argument he was having with Eric, looked glad to be called to help some less difficult students.

Speed didn't hang around; he got straight to the point. "Sir, we don't understand question four. Why would someone want to weigh crisps?"

The teacher looked confused, as if he were asking himself the same question.

"Quality control I guess."

Alexx had to stifle a giggle.

Speed however kept a straight face and continued in his slightly sarcastic tone.

"But surely it's a _very_ boring job and-"

"It's not. I have had experience in that field and it was very educational." The teacher's cheeks gained a slightly pink tinge when he said this.

"But-"

"No! Don't worry about how boring it may have been to weight the crisps. Just worry about the answer to the question!" He walked off fuming.

Alexx and Speed turned to each other, keeping neutral expressions for only a second before collapsing into uncontrollable laughter.

Alexx was laughing so hard, she fell off her chair, the very second the bell rang. She lay their on the ground, still laughing as the rest of the class left. When she calmed down, she felt Speed take her hand and pull her into a standing position. They left the classroom last, and enjoyed five minutes break-time before their next class.


	3. Art Lesson

**_OK, this chapter is for Jodie. She forced me to get my ass in gear and write it! Thankyou Beth for the idea. I'm going to bed now, It's past two in the morning!

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_**

When the bell went, the class were lined up outside their art room.

It was school policy, for good reason, that students were not allowed in the classroom without a teacher present.

"Good morning class!" their teacher greeted, "Today we will be studying ze most romantic part of ze art world. Zat is… if you approach ze activity wiz ze correct person…"

Their teacher continued to ramble for a few more moments, her slight French accent obvious. The class got restless quickly and whispering soon started.

"Hey!"

Alexx felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw Megan Donner, one of her best friends.

"Heya sugar. How-"

Megan cut her off.

"Congratulations on your date!"

Alexx nodded her thanks and Megan continued.

"Have you any idea what Miss Midget is on about?"

Their art teacher, whose real name was Mme Henke, had been "affectionately" named "Midget" when Eric had first seen her. He had seen her heading towards them from the team room and muttered it under his breath and the name stuck.

"You know what honey?" said Alexx, answering Megan's question. "I never have any idea what she's on about!"

At that moment, the teacher said, "…and so I expect ze highest level of effort from zis class in zis lesson. Any questions?"

The class looked at each other.

"Er…Mme? You haven't actually told us what we are doing this lesson."

"I haven't? Today, we are going to learn ze beautiful art of… Painting ze portraits!"

On the last three words, she threw her arms in the air in a flourish.

She paused and everyone was silent for a moment.

She had obviously been expecting more enthusiasm, but continued explaining the lesson.

"You will pair up with someone and zen you will paint zem while zey paint you."

More murmuring, but this time it was more positive. The class was looking forward to a good lesson.

"Everyone! Stand wiz ze person you wish to paint."

The class lined up in pairs.

"Once you are inside, sit in zese pairs and start ze activity. When we are doing well on ze activity, we can move on to actually painting ze portraits."

--------------------

The warm-up activity was a fairly simple one. Draw a face in proportion.

Instructions were on the blackboard, so the class, once inside, started to sketch out a head in their workbooks.

The teacher made her way though the class, identifying who had talent and who hadn't.

There were only a few who had any amount of skill in art, so she didn't expect anything more than enthusiasm from the class.

"Horatio, zat is fabulous work, but having ze sunglasses in ze picture is unnecessary, don't you zink? Megan, you could try making ze eyes a little smaller, zen ze face would be more in proportion, Jill, we are not drawing anime today, zankyou."

She reached the table where Calleigh and Eric were sitting, and Calleigh was having real trouble getting the face shape right.

"Miss," she whined, "Miss, it's not working! I can't do it!"

The teacher knelt down and looked at Calleigh's drawing.

She knew that Calleigh was useless at art, and her latest attempt just proved her point.

There was no way that her picture could be saved.

"Calleigh, I zink you should start again, but zis time, start wiz ze features razer zan ze shape of ze face."

She walked off and Calleigh was muttering.

"Well, that was helpful. I'm no starting again. I'll just finish this one and call it modern art!"

Eric grinned at Calleigh's stubbornness.

"Why don't I help you?" He offered.

Calleigh looked, almost longingly, at his work, which was miles better than her own.

"Eric Delko, I might just take you up on that offer."

He grinned.

She was still gripping her pencil tightly, so he reached around her shoulder and closed his hand over hers.

She had been trying to draw the right eye of her subject, and failing.

The iris was too big and the pupil too small.

When Eric closed his hand over hers, she shuddered.

He was practically hugging her.

He was trying to explain… something about what he was helping her to draw, but she wasn't listening.

Having Eric's arm around her back was too much of a distraction.

When he finished drawing for her, he released her hand and asked "Does that help?"

"Yes," she answered, almost breathlessly. "Much better."

She looked down at her paper and saw hardly an improvement, but what did it matter? She had just been hugged by one of the hottest guys in her year, so why did her artwork matter?

--------------------

Not long after that, they were set the task of painting pictures of each other.

They rearranged the tables so they could see their partners better.

They collected paints and brushes and sat down at opposite ends of their tables.

Mme Henke instructed them to draw a rough outline in pencil before they started, so that took them another five minutes.

Then, finally, it was time to paint portraits.

Horatio was working hard on his masterpiece.

He was trying very hard to capture every feature of his partner, Yelina. He had given her face an overall colour and was just starting to add details.

He dipped his brush in the red paint, to paint her lips. He carefully added different layer, in slightly different shades, so that he could come out of the lesson with a perfect picture of his perfect girl.

Once he finished her lips, her got some dark brown colour on is brush, so he could define her nose.

He was just about to put the brush to the paper when he felt someone jog his arm as they passed where he was sitting.

He looked at his work, horrified to see that there was a brown smudge across Yelina's cheek.

His picture was ruined!

The creation he had taken so much care over had been destroyed.

He stared at his work in dismay.

Yelina looked up from her own work.

"Horatio?"

When he didn't answer, she said, "What's wrong?"

This got an answer.

"My picture is ruined."

He was as calm and collected as usual during a crisis.

"Let's have a look."

"No!"

But Yelina was already looking over his shoulder.

"Horatio?" she said, pointing to the smudge on her cheek. "I don't look like that!"

Horatio, who still had a little brown paint on his brush, suddenly had an idea.

"You do now!" he said, as her drew the brush across her cheek. "You look exactly like my picture!"

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**_There's more of the art lesson in the next chapter. Reviews welcome._**


	4. The Dare Game Part One

_This is the end of the art lesson. Next chapter will be about... well you'll find out! R+R. Thankyou!

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_

Calleigh sat in her seat watching Eric talk to the distraught classroom assistant. Calleigh's expression changed from slightly confused amusement to annoyance to anger in the space of just over a second when she saw what Eric was up to.

Calleigh was the only person who had noticed what Eric was doing. The rest of the class were too busy rioting, or in Horatio and Yelina's case, painting each other's faces.

What Eric was doing didn't please Calleigh at all.

His shirt was undone halfway, showing his chest and he was smiling in a way that he only smiled when he was trying to impress a girl.

Suddenly Eric made a move Calleigh didn't expect. Her jaw dropped and at that very moment, their teacher re-entered the room.

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Ten minutes earlier, Mme Henke left the room.

The class was too rowdy for her at that particular moment. She had been late for work that morning and hadn't had a single cigarette that day.

Her stress levels were high and she was having lots of trouble coping with her class.

They were all too much for her.

Stepping out onto the playground, her cigarettes in her hand, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Five minutes of quiet..." she muttered as she lit the cigarette and took a deep breath from it.

She felt the nicotine get into her blood stream and calm her down.

After three more cigarettes had been lit and then stubbed out only minutes later, Mme Henke was ready to go back and face the class.

On the way back in, she headed to the art supply room to fetch… something. That way, she had a better excuse to be out of the room than "I needed to smoke!"

Once she had a handful of spare paintbrushes, she headed back to the classroom, unprepared for what she was about to find inside.

The classroom was chaos.

There was paper, clay, paint and god knows what else flying around and a couple of people had taken refuge under the tables.

Right in the centre of it were two people. Their lips were locked together.

One of them was Eric Delko and the other was…

"Mrs Palmer? Is zat you?"

Eric and the classroom assistant, Mrs Palmer, broke apart.

Mrs Palmer was looking a little flustered as Eric winked at her before heading back to his seat.

He turned and found himself face to face with Calleigh.

Her arms were crossed and her eyes were blazing.

Obviously, she hadn't seen the funny side of him kissing Mrs Palmer.

It was only a dare. A little bit of fun.

She didn't say a word and the next thing Eric felt was a slap on his cheek.

"Mr Delko! Miss Duquesne! Sit down zis instant! Mrs Palmer, will you please explain what has happened here?"

Eric and Calleigh went to sit down; Calleigh still didn't say anything.

She turned her back on Eric and started talking to the guy on the next table.

Eric turned to Speed and said "Ha! I won the dare! It's my turn to think up something horrible for you to do!"

"You know that everyone in the class is going to tease you about that for the rest of time, don't you?" Speed retaliated.

"Only until you complete your dare! Then it'll be you they are laughing at!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that."

Speed turned his attention back to Alexx and Eric tried to get Calleigh to talk to him.

"Cal…" he whined. "I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean…"

"Can't you see I'm talking?" she snapped.

She turned back to the person on her other side and continued talking to him.

Eric gave up on her, knowing how stubborn she could be.

He turned back to Speed and said "You never told me what happened between Calleigh and the new kid."

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"Miss Salas. Mr Caine. Would you please explain to why you have painted your faces wiz watercolours?"

Yelina and Horatio looked at each other uneasily. The reason they had painted their faces was simple to explain but difficult for someone with slightly more maturity to understand.

"Well," started Yelina, "Horatio's painting of me was really good…"

"…but then someone jogged my arm and made a dark smudge all over her cheek."  
"I said that I didn't have a line over my cheek…"

"…so I decided to paint one on her face. Then Yelina thought…"

"…I thought that the painting looked like a cat-face and so Horatio…"

"I gave Yelina a cat-face."

Yelina looked at the teacher, slightly embarrassed, her cheeks and nose covered in brown lines and smudges that formed whiskers and a nose. It did look quite like a cat.

Mme Henke's eyes moved from Yelina to Horatio, whose face was painted to look like Simba out of "The Lion King".  
_"It matches your hair!"_ Yelina had said while she did it.

"And you, Mr Caine. Why is your face painted as well?"

"She was getting her own back," said Horatio simply.

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"John… I haven't spoken to you in ages!" Calleigh said, forcing a smile onto her face. She was only talking to him to make Eric jealous but it wasn't really working. He was talking to Tim anyway.

"_He'll notice soon enough,"_ Calleigh thought.

She was still furious that he had kissed the teacher. It was obviously some kind of dare or something, but Calleigh still didn't like it.

So she decided to make Eric jealous.

"It's a shame we haven't talked Calleigh, we used to be such good friends!"

"Yeah," Calleigh nodded, slightly too quickly.

If she had her way, she'd never talk to John Hagen. Ever.

He creeped her out slightly.

It annoyed her the way that his eyes occasionally dropped to the level of her chest.

And the matter that they had once dated made the whole situation more complicated.

"So… Calleigh? Have you got a date for tonight?" asked Hagen, a little too casually. He stretched his arm around her shoulders as he spoke.

"No… I mean yes…Yes I do have a date." She gently, but firmly removed his hand as she spoke.

They sat in uneasy silence for a few moments. Then, just as Calleigh was about to say something, the bell rang and the whole class leapt out of their seats and ran for the doors.

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Speed heard Eric's voice behind him: "You never told me what happened between Calleigh and the new kid."

Both Speed and Alexx turned to Eric.

"Looks like she blew you off just as bad as she did for that new boy!" remarked Alexx, nodding to Eric's cheek that was still red from where Calleigh had hit him.

"She blew him off?" asked Eric, sounding confused.

"Yeah, he offered her the spare seat next to him in the bus." Speed told him.

"…And what did Calleigh do?" Eric pressed.

"Ha! She only embarrassed him in front of the whole bus!"

"Timmy! Don't be mean! It wasn't that funny."

Both Eric and Speed were spared the difficulty of trying to comment by the ringing of the bell.

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"Please! I need a couple of volunteers to clean up zis mess!" called Mme Henke as the class rushed past her.

Seconds later, the class was totally empty.  
Mme Henke sighed and picked up her pack of cigarettes.

She had learnt long ago that it is easier not to fight this particular class.

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A notice rang out over the gravely intercom…  
"At the end of this break, you will all please go to your normal lesson, and from there be escorted to the hall. Today, we are having a special session covering Puberty and Sexual Health. Thank you. That will be all."

Everyone looked at each other, slightly mystified.

There werewhispers going round the playground all break.

What will happen? What will we have to do?

Only time will tell!


	5. The Dare Game Part Two

_Haha this chapter is so long! It's taken me ages to write! But, I enjoyed every minute of it! Hope you do too! Let me know...

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_

The class sat in (almost) silence while the register was taken.

"Allden?"

"Here. "

"Caine?"

"Here."

"Delko?"

"Here."

"Donner?"

"Here."

"Duquesne?"

"…is hot," said Eric, earning a scowl from Calleigh.

"Here."

"Evans?"

"Here."

"James?"

"Here."

"Prest?"

"Here."

"Richardson?"

"Here."

"Shanks?"

"Here."

"Speedle?"

"Here."

"Tripp?"

"Here."

"Williams?"

"Here."

"Wolfe?"

"…smells!" said Eric.

Ryan looked slightly hurt as he answered.

"Here."

"Woods?"

"Here."

"Right…" continued the teacher without missing a beat. "I understand that I have to take you to some sort of lesson in the hall, is that right?"

A couple of people nodded.

"Alright then, let's go."

They all followed her to the hall for their lesson on "Puberty and Sexual Health". Most people were finding it funny, others didn't care that much.

The only person who didn't want to be there was Calleigh.

If she had still been speaking to Eric, she would have been looking forward to a thoroughly enjoyable lesson, laughing at the jokes Eric made and working with him for the activities. It wouldn't be the same if she had to work with Hagen.

In fact, she thought, it's not the best idea to work with Hagen at all, with all this talk of sex…

When they got into the hall, they saw that there were lots of tables laid out around the room, each one with four seats.

Calleigh threw down her bag and sat at the table furthest away from the door they had entered through. She was sat alone as she watched the hall fill up. Then at the last moment, someone came and sat at her table.

"John…" she sighed as he sat down next to her.

Not opposite her.

Next to her.

Eric sat down on the next table with Speed and Alexx and he looked at Calleigh and John. He could just about hear what they were saying.

"Calleigh, you looked lonely. And we're friends right? Why shouldn't I sit with you?"

"John, I just don't want to sit with you at the moment. Surely you have a prom date you could sit with?"

"Umm… actually Cal, that's why I want to sit with you."

Calleigh could tell where the conversation was going.

"Calleigh, will you go to the prom with me?"

Calleigh's thoughts were confirmed.

Eric heard John and looked up.

He couldn't see Calleigh's face because her back was too him, but he could tell that she wasn't happy. There was sharpness to her voice that Calleigh never used when speaking to Eric.

"No, John. I've already got a date…"

She looked around at Eric, as if looking for confirmation that they were still going to the prom together.

He was distracted by Speed talking to him so he wasn't looking her way when she turned around.

Calleigh felt Hagen's hand on her thigh and turned back to face him.

"Hagen, no. I've already got a date."

She wasn't sure if Eric would want to go with her anymore because she had ignored him for the past hour or so, but she would rather lie and not go at all than go to the prom with Hagen.

She took Hagen's hand and gently, but firmly removed it from her leg.

At that moment, a teacher came up behind her on the way to the front of the room and said "Ms Duquesne? Could you do me a favour?"

"Sure," she said, standing up with a bright, but fake, smile.

"Could you go out to the cupboard and fetch a contraception boxes? We are practising using condoms this lesson."

The teacher blushed as he said that, but Calleigh just giggled slightly.

"Okay sir!"

She scooted out of the room, putting as much distance between herself and Hagen as possible.

--------------------

In the corridor, Calleigh was alone.

_Finally_, she thought.

With Hagen harassing her and Eric, well Eric was just being Eric; she needed a moment to herself to sort out her head.

She took a sip from the water fountain and went to find the cupboard where the boxes of sample contraception were kept.

She reached the cupboard and was about to open the door when a picture on the wall caught her eye.

In the frame there were three photos from the last inter-school swimming gala. The photos were one of the whole team, one of someone winning a race and a final one of Eric accepting a trophy on behalf of the school team. He had obviously just got out of the pool when that picture had been taken because he was still only wearing a pair of swimming shorts and was dripping wet.

She smiled and gently touched the frame.

There was no way she could stay angry for Eric for much longer.

Seeing the picture had reminded her about his infectious smile and his ability to bring light to her life.

She was missing him already.

But before she could make up with Eric, she had a slightly more pressing issue. How to get six boxes, all brimming with different forms of contraception, back into the hall without dropping anything.

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"Good morning! I'm sure you all know why you are here," the teacher called over the, now silent, hall.

Well almost silent.

"I'll ask her to sit here when she comes back in," muttered Eric.

He had just watched Calleigh as she nearly sprinted from the hall into the corridor.

"She won't listen to you baby," Alexx told him. "Let me talk to her."

"I think you should both leave her alone. She'll come round once you explain that it was just a dare," Speed put in, in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Yeah, I guess."

Eric was still looking slightly depressed a minute later, but brightened up when the teacher started to round off his introduction to the lesson.

"…and I hope you will find this session enjoyable and…"

"Are we doing practical today sir?"

Eric's voice was heard over the silent hall.

The teacher speaking blushed, but only a little.

Boldly, he answered Eric's question.

"As a matter of fact Mr Delko, we _are_ doing practical today."

The silence that had previously filled the hall was cut with laughter. Shrieks and giggles erupted from all the tables in the hall.

The teacher, whose face was now beetroot red, finally got the joke.

"Not _that_ kind of practical!" he said, exasperated.

His reaction just made the laughter escalate.

"Oh for goodness sake," he sighed.

He waited impatiently for the hysterics to die down.

When they did, he heard a voice from the door.

"Uh…sir? I'm not going to be able to carry all of these boxes on my own. Could I have some help?"

It was Calleigh.

"I'll help her Sir!" said Hagen as he stood up. Eric however, had already left the room.

"No, Mr Hagen. That's fine. There aren't that many boxes and the two of them should manage together. Thank you for offering though."

Hagen sat back down again, scowling.

Behind him, Speed turned to Alexx and said "That'll never work. She'll just get even more angry with him…"

"Sugar, since when have you been some kind of expert about girls?"

"I find that very offensive! I got a date didn't I?"

"True!" said Alexx with a laugh.

"And anyway… Even if I'm no expert on girls, Calleigh isn't exactly a normal girl, is she? Eric needs all the help he can get!"

--------------------

Eric jogged down the hallway towards Calleigh, who was already next to the open cupboard door.

"Hey Cal," he greeted, slightly tentatively.

"Hey," came her reply. Her tone was cold. It was true that she didn't like arguing with Eric, but she wasn't about to give in that easily. He was the one that had done wrong so he should apologise.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good."

In silence, they both went into the large store cupboard.

There was hardly room to move, once they were both inside. There were so many boxes that they were squashed together like sardines.

"What exactly are we supposed to be getting from in here?" asked Eric.

"Boxes of contraception," replied Calleigh with a giggle. Their eyes locked and Calleigh blushed, turning away.

Eric grinned, unseen to Calleigh. Her laughing had been a little victory for him because now he knew that Calleigh wasn't that angry with him.

"Okay… so… you pass the boxes out to me and then we'll both take them into the hall, alright?"

"Sure." Calleigh's tone still had a harsh edge to it, but it wasn't as cold as it had been only a minute before.

They worked quickly and soon Calleigh was picking up the fourth box. Up until then, they had worked in silence but as Calleigh passed the box to Eric, he spoke.

"It was only a dare, Cal."

"What was?" she asked, even though she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You know… _the kiss._"

"Oh that," said Calleigh as she picked up the fifth box. "It's okay. You're forgiven."

"Seriously?" asked Eric. Calleigh was the most stubborn person he knew and he had never known her to give in so easily. "That's it?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Sure, it's fine."

Eric just raised his eyebrows.

"Well… there is one condition…" said Calleigh. A slight grin was coming to her lips now.

"Oh yeah?"

Eric put down the box he was holding and went into the cupboard after Calleigh, letting the door swing shut behind him. They were standing in near darkness.

"Can I join your dare game?" Calleigh said suddenly.

"That's the condition? I'm forgiven if you can join the dare game?"

"Yeah."

"Well, of course that's okay. You should have just asked."

Calleigh stepped closer to Eric.

"Do I get to make the first dare?"

"Um… if you want to…"

Calleigh wrapped her arms around Eric's neck, standing on tip-toes to do so.

"Good. I have the best dare for you…"

"Really?" Eric was grinning now and put his arms around Calleigh's waist and walking towards the wall. Once Calleigh's back touched the wall, he asked, "And what would that dare be?"

"I dare you, Eric, to make out with me. Right here, right now."

--------------------

"Where _are_ they?" asked Alexx, to no-one in particular.

Calleigh and Eric had been outside for over ten minutes and Alexx was starting to worry.

"Either," Tim said sarcastically, "Eric apologised but Calleigh was furious and murdered him and is now trying to hide the body or he apologised and Calleigh forgave him."

Seeing Alexx's face at his ideas, he continued.

"Or they're just fetching boxes."

Alexx and Speed weren't the only ones who had noticed that Calleigh and Eric hadn't come back. The two teachers that were running the session had noticed that they were taking longer than normal to find the equipment.

"Could you just go and see what they are up to?" the male teacher asked the female.

"They are taking a while. Maybe they need help finding the things."

"Yeah."

The female teacher was just heading past Speed and Alexx when Speed said to Alexx, "Well maybe a load of boxes fell on Calleigh and she got crushed and then Eric got crushed trying to help her."

The teacher quickened her pace.

--------------------

"Eric! Someone's coming!"

Eric listened.

Calleigh was right; someone was coming down the corridor towards the cupboard.

"Quick, behind here!" said Eric, pushing Calleigh behind a stack of boxes. He bent down and gave her the pile of clothes that was on the floor.

He put on his trousers quickly just as the door opened, flooding the small space with light.

"Mr Delko!"

Eric was greeted by a female teacher, who was very shocked by his topless form.

She looked down at the floor and saw what could only be a bra.

Eric followed her line of sight and saw what she was looking at. Quickly, he picked it up and held it behind his back, blushing furiously.

"Mr Delko. Please explain to me why you have, what I can only assume is Ms Duquesne's bra?"

Eric didn't say anything. He just looked at the floor and shuffled his feet from side to side.

"Well, I suggest that you find your shirt, give Ms Duquesne her bra back and get back in the hall in five minutes. If you can't manage that, I might let slip what I've seen to a more senior member of staff."

Eric still didn't say anything and kept his eyes on the floor.

"And Ms Duquesne? Next time, if you are going to hide the clothes, make sure you hide _all_ the clothes."

The teacher left, closing the cupboard door behind her. The small space was plunged into darkness again.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Eric let out the laugh he had been trying to hide for the whole time he had been talking to the teacher. Calleigh emerged from her hiding place, also laughing.

Once they were both fully dressed and able to talk again, they left the cupboard.

Eric walked ahead of Calleigh in the corridor. Calleigh was looking at him strangely. Suddenly she spoke.

"Eric! That's my shirt!"

Eric turned around and looked down.

"It is!" he said, grinning.

Calleigh started unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing and handed it to Eric. He slid Calleigh's shirt off and took the one she was holding out.

"I thought that that shirt was a bit small!"

Calleigh gave him a stern look, but he knew she didn't mean it.

They walked into the hall together and walked towards the table where Eric had been sitting with Alexx and Tim, who were now doing a worksheet about the reproductive system. Unfortunately for Calleigh, they had to walk past the table where Hagen was sitting to get there. As she realised this, she slid her hand into Eric's. He glanced down at her and gave her an encouraging smile. Together, they walked confidently past Hagen's table. He had his head down and was working on the worksheet. His pen was moving across the paper quickly and he was concentrating on what he was writing. Calleigh almost wanted him to look up, so she could tell him that she was going to the prom with Eric and see his reaction.

They were nearly past the table before something happened. Calleigh suddenly felt a hand on her arm.

She jerked her hand away but Hagen held tight.

When she turned to face him, he fixed her with a hard stare. Calleigh suddenly realised that she wasn't holding Eric's hand any more.

"John," she started, but she was interrupted.

Eric had stepped between her and Hagen. He removed Hagen's hand from Calleigh's wrist and glared at him.

"Don't even think about it," said Eric.

Hagen looked almost scared by these words and Eric, feeling satisfied, turned and carried on heading towards Alexx and Speed.

"Thanks," muttered Calleigh as they walked away.

"No problem." replied Eric. "It's the least I can do."

They both grinned at each other for a second before sitting down.

Neither of them had noticed that Calleigh's arm had mysteriously become wrapped around Eric's waist, or the fact that Eric's hand was gently placed in the small of Calleigh's back.

But Speed and Alexx had noticed.

It took all of Alexx's willpower not to start giggling.

"You were in that cupboard for a while!" said Speed, as they sat down. "What happened in there?"

Calleigh blushed and Eric grinned.

Alexx smiled knowingly.

"I'm guessing you can tell us later. Not exactly appropriate in this lesson?"

"You got that right," confirmed Eric.

--------------------

Half an hour later, they had worked through endless worksheets about the reproductive system, the psychological implications of sex and lastly, contraception.

The teacher that had found Eric and Calleigh in the store cupboard earlier was addressing the class.

"As we have done worksheets for most of this lesson, I think we should get onto some practical work now. Working in pairs, we are going to practise putting on condoms."

There was a moment of silence before the hall exploded with laughter.

The poor teacher stood for a moment, totally clueless about why the large group of teenagers had suddenly dissolved into fits of giggles.

She ran through what she had just said, in her mind. If anyone had been watching rather than laughing, they would have noticed the moment that realisation dawned on her face.

She clapped a hand to her forehead and hung her head.

"No one is ever going to forget this…" she thought. Luckily, the other teacher who was supervising the class, stepped in.

"Right you 'orrible lot!" he bellowed over the noise. The laughter died down as quickly as it had started.

"You lot are meant to be nearly adults! This is meant to be a serious lesson! Behave!"

He headed over to the side of the room where the boxes that Eric and Calleigh had been fetching where stacked.

He picked up the first box and started putting condoms from the box out on the tables.

As he passed Hagen's table, he told him something. Hagen stood up, took the second box and started to walk between the tables.

"Oh my god! He's handing out dildos!" said Alexx.

Calleigh turned around and saw that it was true. Hagen was indeed putting two dildos on every table. She looked at the condom that had been put on the table in front of her, and understood.

"Ooh! We have to put the condom on the dildo!"

Everybody around looked at Calleigh strangely.

"What?"

"Er…Calleigh? You said that a bit loud," Speed told her.

Calleigh blushed again.

"Sorry!"

Everyone was still grinning when Hagen towards them to deliver the dildos they had to use. When he arrived, everyone on the table was quiet and sombre.

Calleigh held eye contact with Hagen as he placed two dildos on their table. He walked behind her and Eric as he headed to the next table and gently touched her shoulder with his free hand. The movement was small, but both Eric and Calleigh noticed it.

Eric reacted.

He leapt up and punched Hagen, hard in the stomach.

Hagen was winded and dropped the box he was carrying. The contents spilled all over the floor under the surrounding tables. Everyone was laughing again and the teachers were rushing over to help Hagen. He had taken a very hard blow.

"Delko! Detention at lunchtime!" One of the teacher's yelled.

Eric looked angry, but not at the prospect of detention. He was furious with Hagen.

The teacher helped Hagen to his feet and Eric took the opportunity to tell him what he really thought of him.

"Hagen, if you ever lay even a finger on Calleigh again, you will think of this as getting let off lightly."

"Delko, sit down! You are already in enough trouble!"

Eric sat down next to Calleigh.

"Eric, you didn't have to do that," she told him.

"I did though because if I didn't, he'd keep on taking advantage and then it'd get worse."

"Eric, I can fight my own battles. And there's no need for you to get into trouble for me…"

At that moment, the bell rang signalling the beginning of lunch hour and everyone started heading out onto the playgrounds.

Calleigh turned to Eric and said "I'll see you later."

Before leaving, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek and whispered "Thank you," in his ear.

--------------------

"Hey Hagen?"

Calleigh caught up with John in the playground.

"Calleigh!" he said, when he saw her. He was grinning, as if he was glad that Eric was in detention.

They were standing face to face and quite close together.

Calleigh started to lean towards Hagen, as if she wanted him to kiss her. That's what he seemed to think anyway, because he moved his face closer to hers.

Just before their lips touched, Calleigh brought her hand up and slapped Hagen hard across the cheek.

"You bastard," she said, before walking off.

Hagen stood, rubbing his cheek, slightly mystified.

Eric, who had watched the scene from the detention room, let a smile come to his face.


	6. Lunchtime

_Sorry for long wait for updates... I wanted to finish Guardian Angel first... which I have done. Thanks for waiting on this guys!_

_And just so there's no confusion, last chapter, Eric and Calliegh had full sex in the cupboard. _

_I'm going on holiday now, so pleaseleave me lots of lovely reviews for when I get back!

* * *

Yelina and Horatio were separated in the crowds as they left the hall where they had had their last lesson. She wasn't worried however; they always ate together, in the same place so she figured they would meet there._

Unfortunately, to get there, she had to cross the tennis courts and the playground. This was a dangerous task for any person; at any moment a tennis ball could come hurtling towards your head.

But getting to the other side safely was made harder if you were carrying a couple of books. And unfortunately for Yelina, that was what she was doing.

Before stepping onto the courts, she readjusted her grip around the books and folded her arms across her chest a little tighter.

She had made it until nearly half way across the tennis courts when she first came in danger from a low-flying missile, also known as a tennis ball. Luckily, it narrowly missed her, that time.

Yelina was nearly at the safety of the field when a football came soaring towards her and hit her in the chest.

This caused her to drop her books.

The boy who had kicked the ball came rushing over to help her and was very apologetic.

"I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to hit you when I kicked the ball I really didn't!"

Yelina smiled at how worried he seemed.

"Don't worry, it didn't hurt!"

The boy grinned, slightly embarrassed, and went back to his football game, leaving Yelina to pick up the last of the papers that had slipped out of her books and she didn't notice two girls coming over to where she was crouched.

One of them picked up one of her books and started to flick through it and the other called to Yelina.

"Hey Salas!"

Yelina straightened up, one book and three sheets of paper with notes written on them in neat, italic handwriting clutched in her arms.

"Can I have my book back please?" Yelina asked as politely as she could muster. These girls were called Caroline Stewart and Lydia Allen and Yelina knew them. They had been in her class the year before and picked on her from the first day in September until the last day of the year. Thankfully, they had been placed in different classes since then but Yelina still had to contend with them at breaks occasionally.

"You know what Salas? I haven't done any of my term papers, but it seems that you have. I think I'll just take this book and copy out of here."

She made to run with Yelina's book still clutched in her hand, leaving Yelina speechless, when a tall boy stood behind Yelina and addressed Caroline and Lydia.

"I'd give back the book if I were you."

Caroline turned her attentions to the boy now.

"And why should I?"

The boy reached around Yelina and snatched the book from Caroline's hand. Both Caroline and Lydia glared at him before turning and stalking away.

Yelina faced the boy that was standing behind her.

"Thank you," she said with a shy smile.

"That," he replied, "was not a problem. Are you okay?"

Yelina nodded and together they headed to their usual lunch spot. As they walked, she slipped her arm through his.

He didn't see to mind though.

He was taking her to the Prom that night, after all.

--------------------

Ryan was lost. He was standing in the middle of the playground, looking around him for a teacher, or even a familiar face.

He didn't know where the toilets were and was starting to get desperate.

He span around again and nearly knocked over a girl who had just come up behind him.

"Oh I'm sorry," he muttered apologetically, and then realised that he recognised the girl.

"Hey, aren't you in my class?"

She scrutinised him for a second and then realisation dawned on her face.

"You're the new kid! The one that asked Calleigh out on the bus!"

Ryan blushed and she laughed.

"I didn't actually ask her out, but yeah, that was me."

"You asked her to sit with you. In this school, that is the same thing as asking her out."

Ryan forced a grin, somewhat sheepishly and fished for a change in topic. He found one when he realised that he didn't even know the girl's name.

"Maxine Valera. Nobody uses my first name though. It's always Valera. And you're Ryan, right? Ryan… Wolfe, is it?"

"Yeah," he replied noncommittally and kept looking around for a bathroom.

"A lost wolf?" Valera questioned, quite pleased with herself because of the pun. "What were you looking for a minute ago?"

Ryan blushed a little.

"The toilets."

Valera nodded and pointed him towards the main school building.

"Go through the main door, turn right along the corridor and you'll see the bathrooms."

"Okay. Thank you very much!" Said Ryan gratefully.

"Well, um, I guess I'll see you later then." Said Valera.

"Yeah! Definitely!" Ryan nodded and walked off in the direction she had pointed out to him.

He soon found the toilets and, feeling slightly relieved, went in.

Inside, he saw Speed, who was sitting on the worktop between two sinks. He had a textbook balanced on one knee and an exercise book on the other.

He was scribbling quickly in the exercise book and his eyes kept flicking to the textbook. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice Ryan come into the bathroom.

Ryan walked over to him, still unnoticed, and looked at the title of the textbook that Speed was copying from. The words on the cover were written in a language that Ryan didn't know, but he thought looked like Spanish.

"What you doing?" Ryan asked in a quite annoying tone that made Speed jump slightly.

He frowned slightly before answering.

"I'm doing my homework. What are you doing?"

"I'd have thought that was obvious; I'm going to the toilet."

"Well, you're in the wrong room for that."

Speed kept a neutral expression but Ryan looked puzzled.

"The girl's bathroom is on the other side of the corridor," Speed explained, with his usual sarcasm.

Ryan was unsure what to do in response to Speed's comment.

They stared at each other in silence for a second before Ryan turned and left the bathroom.

"Great," he thought. "Now I've got to find another toilet."

--------------------

Calleigh was also in the toilets at the same time, but she was in the girl's bathroom, across the hall from where Ryan and Speed were.

She took a minute to drag a brush through her hair; it had become quite matted during their last lesson, and to re-button her shirt. For some reason, she hadn't managed to do it up right yet.

When she looked more presentable, Calleigh picked up her schoolbag from the floor and headed out into the corridor.

Once outside, she was quite puzzled to see Ryan standing outside the boy's bathroom, hopping from foot to foot, like he needed the toilet very badly, which was strange, thought Calleigh, considering he was standing outside a bathroom.

She didn't have chance to ask him about it though because at that moment, Speed stepped out from the bathroom.

He winked at Ryan and grinned at Calleigh.

"You wanna grab a bite?" He asked.

"Sure," replied Calleigh with a nod of her head.

They headed off down the corridor together and were soon out of sight.

"Finally!"

Ryan dashed into the toilets and went in peace.

--------------------

Eric turned away from the window of the detention room when he heard a teacher enter the room. She was followed by three other students that Eric recognised but didn't know personally.

The only girl that was in detention sat down with a dark haired boy in the front row. They had come in with their arms linked, so Eric assumed that they were "together". Eric sat in the back row and the final person sat on the right hand side, leaning against the wall.

"Okay, today for detention, you are writing lines," said the detention supervisor as she handed out sheets of paper. Once everyone had been given something to write on, she wrote on the board what they would be writing.

_Delko: I will not use violence against other students._

_Taylor: I will not use violence against other creatures._

_Bonasera: I will not make a fuss about a tiny spider._

_Grissom: I will always do my homework. _

"Write your lines one hundred times and when you are finished, show me and you can go. You may start."

Eric sighed and picked up his pen.

_I will not use violence against other students._

"I wonder what Taylor did," Eric thought.

_I will not use violence against other students. _

"I wonder which one is Taylor," he mused.

_I will not use violence against other students. _

"I think the girl is Bonasera because I don't think that a guy would make a fuss about a spider."

_I will not use violence against other students. _

"I'm so bored."

_I will not use violence against other students. _

--------------------

Yelina curled her feet underneath her and leant back. She felt an arm around her shoulders and turned to smile at the owner of the arm.

Horatio was sitting next to her, smiling.

Yelina frowned a little and reached up to his face.

With one hand, she quickly removed his sunglasses.

"I want to see your eyes!" she told him, almost whispering. This made her accent thicker and that made Horatio's heart melt.

With a slightly evil smirk, she put on the sunglasses she was holding. Horatio couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Yelina looked amazingly cute with his sunglasses on.

But Horatio wanted to see her eyes, like Yelina wanted to see his.

He removed his arm from around her shoulders and took the glasses from her face.

Yelina opened her mouth to protest but Horatio's finger gently touched her lips and she was quiet.

When Horatio had stowed his sunglasses away in his schoolbag, he put his arms around Yelina's waist and she leant against him.

Her back was against his chest, his chin on her head.

"I could stay like this forever," muttered Yelina sleepily.

"So could I," Horatio replied as he found Yelina's hands and held them tightly, their arms folding across her stomach.

Yelina's eye's flickered closed and soon after, so did Horatio's.

A soft breeze played around them and Yelina's mind had almost formed the thought that they were sitting in a very clichéd position and the wind finished the "scene-just-plucked-from-a-movie" feel.

So everything was calm and quiet in Horatio and Yelina's little corner of the field.

Until…

"HORATIO HAS A GIRLFRIEND!"

Horatio sat up very quickly at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Raymond…" he muttered.

Horatio's younger brother was standing about ten metres from where Horatio and Yelina had been dozing only seconds before with an extremely smug grin on his face. Very quickly however, this grin reduced to a look of fear as Horatio advanced on him.

Raymond tried to run from his older brother but Horatio caught him and held tightly onto his ear.

"Raymond. What are you doing here?"

"Ow! Ow! Horatio that hurts! Ouch!"

Horatio scowled and pinched Raymond's ear harder.

"Apologise to Yelina," Horatio told his younger brother firmly.

Yelina was still sitting on the floor, leaning back on her hands. She wore an expression that could have been horror, at how Horatio was treating his brother, or amusement. It was hard to tell.

"Is Yelina your girlfriend then?" asked Raymond. "If she isn't, can I go to the prom with her? She's pretty!"

This earned Raymond another twist of his ear from Horatio.

"Ouch! Okay! Okay I'm sorry!" He pleaded.

Only then did Horatio release Raymond and fixed him with a glare that would have withered plants.

Raymond took that as his cue to leave and he ran across the field to find someone else to annoy.

Horatio sat down beside Yelina again, his eyes full of apology. The encounter with Raymond had been quite embarrassing for both of them.

"Aww Horatio, that wasn't your fault. Just your brother."

Horatio's arm was around Yelina's shoulders again and he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. It brought a smile to her face, which made Horatio happy as well.

"Yeah. Just my brother," confirmed Horatio.

Yelina put her head on Horatio's shoulder and closed her eyes again.

Horatio looked at the girl that was quickly falling asleep against him and realised that his brother was wrong.

Yelina wasn't pretty.

She was beautiful.

--------------------

_I will not use violence against other students. _

_I will not use violence against other students. _

_I will not use violence against other students. _

Eric heard the noise of someone standing up somewhere in front of him and looked up from his paper. The teacher had stood up from her seat and was looking at them all. When everyone had switched their attention from their lines to the teacher, she spoke.

"I am going to get my lunch now but I expect you all to stay here and finish your lines. If any of you reach one hundred before I get back, wait for me to come and dismiss you."

With that, she turned and left.

There was a second of silence before someone spoke.

"Well, this is fun," muttered the boy that was sitting at the front.

Eric took this opportunity to ask who everyone was.

"I'm Mac Taylor," answered the boy that spoke.

"Stella Bonasera," said the girl, nodding.

"I'm Eric Delko."

They all nodded and simultaneously turned to look at the final person in the room, who had not yet said anything.

He looked at them blankly as if he hadn't heard the last thirty seconds of conversation.

Eric looked at the board and realised who it was.

"Gil Grissom! Oh man, how did you get detention?"

"I didn't do my homework," said Grissom, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "I hath no spurs to prick the sides of my intent."

Eric, Stella and Mac looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"I couldn't be bothered."

They nodded, still looking slightly confused and turned back to the conversation they had been having.

"So what did you get detention for?" Stella asked Eric. "Who did you punch?"

Eric grinned. "John Hagen. He touched my girlfriend. Had to do something."

Mac nodded.

"I killed a spider," he told Eric.

"You got detention for killing a spider?"

"I think it was partly my fault," Stella put in. "If I hadn't screamed, the teacher wouldn't have got mad and overreacted when Mac killed it. But I have arachnophobia and when it crawled on me, I wasn't expecting it."

Eric was about to laugh when the teacher walked through the door.

"Hey! Taylor! Bonasera! Face the front and get on with writing your lines!"

With a smirk, Eric kept writing.

_I will not use violence against other students. _

_I will not use violence against other students. _

_I will not use violence against other students. _

--------------------

Calleigh and Speed stood at one side of the cafeteria and looked at the people in the queue.

"You have to do it! I'm in the dare game now too, so you have to do my dare," explained Calleigh matter-of-factly.

"I know the rules, Calleigh. Just, that's unfair," Speed retorted.

Calleigh fixed him with a glare. "It was unfair when you dared Eric to kiss that teacher…"

Speed remembered how much that dare had upset Calleigh, so he sighed.

"Fine. I'll do it, but remember that you are in trouble when it's your turn to do a dare."

Calleigh shrugged.

"Don't care. Right now I want to see you put ice down Catherine Willow's shirt."

--------------------

Eric looked down at his paper and counted the lines.

"Was that 97 or 99?"

He recounted and got 98.

_I will not use violence against other students. _

_I will not use violence against other students. _

"Miss?" he said, standing up. "I'm finished. May I go?"

--------------------

Three minutes later, Catherine's scream could be heard throughout the cafeteria. Calleigh let out a triumphant laugh as Speed came up to her.

"Happy?" he asked as he rubbed his cheek. Apparently, Catherine had slapped him.

"Yes! YES!" squealed Calleigh with delight. She stopped, however, when she noticed Speed looking at her _very_ strangely.

"What?"

"You sound like a shampoo advert," he pointed out.

Calleigh was spared from thinking up a reply by Eric's arrival. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and put his head on her shoulder.

"Hey, what's up?"

Calleigh leaned back a little so that Eric was supporting her as Speed told the whole story of the uproar that he had caused, occasionally giving Calleigh hard looks.

"… and now I'm going to look for Alexx before Willows finds me and drinks my blood or something."

He left and Eric turned Calleigh around so they were facing each other. Without her giving them notice or permission, Calleigh's arms snaked around Eric's neck.

"How was detention?" she asked, in a tone of voice that would be described as sexy if they had been talking about anything else.

"You know. Boring," replied Eric with a sigh. "It was only lines though. I mean, Speed's last detention was to clean the whole set of desks in the detention classroom."

"Hmm," said Calleigh, oblivious to all the people walking past.

"Still, it's over and now I can spend the rest of the lunch hour with you."

Calleigh grinned as Eric spoke and stood on tiptoes so that she was able to kiss him. Eric's hands pressed on her back and pulled her into him as he deepened the kiss. Calleigh moaned softly and in the second that her mouth was open, Eric's tongue slipped past her lips.

A deep cough from next to them broke their trance.

"You guys do realise that the bell has gone?"

They looked and saw their friend, Frank Tripp, standing beside them.

"Has it?" asked Calleigh, looking at her watch as Eric glanced around the cafeteria and found it almost deserted.

Frank nodded.

"Sorry to break up a good time like that but I figured that you two wouldn't want to be late for your next lesson."

But Calleigh had dragged Eric out of the cafeteria by the hand, shouting a quick "Thanks Frank!" over her shoulder.

As soon as they were out of the hall, Calleigh pushed Eric against the wall and they kissed again in the bright sunlight of the playground. And then, as suddenly as she had started to kiss Eric, she drew her lips away and strolled away towards the next class.

"Calleigh Duquesne, that was cruel," Eric muttered as he caught up with her.

"Yeah, but you love it!"

"True," Eric conceded.

"And," Calleigh continued, "We would hate to be late for PE. Your favourite lesson…"

Eric snorted a little.

"I think we've both had quite enough of a workout for one day, don't you?"


	7. Ulterior Motives

_Okay, this chapter might get a bit confusing because they are playing netball and it makes more sense if I explain a bit. _

**Red team: **_Goal Keeper:_ Frank Tripp _Goal Defence: _Rick Stetler. _Wing Defence: _Speed. _Wing Attack: _Valera _Goal Attack:_ Horatio Caine _Goal Shooter: _Yelina Salas

**Blue Team: **_Goal Keeper: _Natalia Boa Vista _Goal Defence: _John Hagen _Wing Defence:_ Ryan Wolfe _Wing Attack: _Alexx Woods _Goal Attack:_ Eric Delko _Goal Shooter: _Calleigh Duquesne

Yes I _know _I forgot to put a Centre in each team, but I couldn't think of enough people to make to seven-a-side teams.

If you want to know the rules of netball, google it, but it's quite similar to basketball except you can't move when you have the ball.

This chapter is dedicated to **shoppingluva91 **because I know she loves netball!

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"Ryan! You have to do it!" Speed was slightly annoyed.

"You could have given me a slightly easier dare!" Ryan declared indignantly. "I'd have done the ice down someone's shirt or something but come on! Run into the girl's changing room, _while they are changing?_"

Speed shrugged.

"You wanted to be in the game, you gotta do the dare."

"But… but…" Ryan argued. "I'll be embarrassed about it for the rest of my life. And the girls will kill me. I actually won't make it out alive."

Speed shook his head but the gesture was lost as he pulled his school shirt over his head.

"The dare game is about risks," he explained. "Eric risked losing him girlfriend… I risked losing my life! Now you, on the other hand, don't stand to lose either of them. Catherine Willows isn't in there so you won't get killed and, well, you haven't got a girlfriend to lose."

Speed gave Ryan a small push towards the door. Ryan looked back at him with pleading eyes, but soon gave up when he realised that it was fruitless.

Gloomily, he stepped outside and headed to the girl's changing rooms, resigned to a life of torture from every female in the school. With a huge sigh, he pushed open the door.

Inside the girl's changing room, everyone was in a varying state of undress. Most were standing near benches, changing discreetly. Other's were already changed and had left. When Ryan warily put his head around the door, he found most of the girls gathered around a bench in the centre of the room. Unfortunately, he could see that some of them had managed to strip down to their underwear before becoming totally engrossed in… whatever they were engrossed in.

There was a lot of giggling and whispering so it must have been something interesting. But then, thought Ryan, girls are always giggling and whispering so it might just be nothing.

A plan of action suddenly came into Ryan's head.

He closed his eyes tightly, put both hands over the closed sockets and stepped into the room.

--------------------

"Wow! Yelina, that's amazing!"

"That is beautiful!"

Praises filled the room when Yelina produced a piece of paper from her bag. It was the painting that Horatio had done of her in their art lesson. They had managed to remove the black smudge and it looked amazing. Every detail of Yelina's tanned face had been captured timelessly in watercolour.

Someone was commenting that "Horatio must know Yelina very well to be able to paint such an accurate picture of her," when Alexx noticed Ryan standing sheepishly by the door.

She glared at him wordlessly for a moment before pointing out, bluntly, "This is the girl's room."

"I know." Ryan matched her to-state-the-obvious tone.

"I don't know what the other guys tell you, but I do know that you are not a girl."

By this point the attention of all the girls was turned to Ryan and the look on every face was annoyed.

Except Calleigh's.

The expression on her face showed sudden comprehension.

"Eric and Speed put you up to this didn't they? You wanted to be part of the Dare Game and they made you come in here as your first dare!"

Ryan nodded sheepishly and muttered something about leaving before Calleigh grabbed his arm.

"Nu uh," she said, shaking her head. "If you go back like that, they'll never believe you. They need proof."

Ryan lifted an eyebrow, confused, as Calleigh walked over to the bench where her bag had been left. Ryan watched for a moment and it appeared that she was looking for something.

And then Calleigh took her shirt off.

Silence filled the room and it was so still that Calleigh could almost see tumbleweed blowing past as she stared around at everyone. With a nonchalant shrug, she picked up her sports shirt and slipped it over her head and aware as she was of everyone's eyes still on her, she started to change into her shorts.

To say that Ryan's eyes popped out of his head was an understatement.

He was stunned and his body didn't seem to want to do what his brain was telling it to.

So he was a little disappointed but he didn't complain when Calleigh shooed him from the changing rooms, but not before she glanced quickly down at his groin and nodded.

"Now you have proof that you've been in here," Calleigh told him as she pushed him through the open door. "I did think I'd have to do more that just get changed in front of you but hey, not complaining."

He nodded in agreement and Calleigh went back inside.

Once he was alone, he started to gain back the ability to think. He shut his mouth, which had been hanging open and suddenly felt some tightness is his boxers.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

"Oh," he said aloud.

Then he walked into the boy's changing rooms, sporting the proof that he had completed the dare.

--------------------

Hot sunlight fell hard on the group standing on the netball court as they waited for a teacher. When one finally came, they were a quarter of the way into the lesson already and getting very impatient.

"Right guys! I'm sorry I'm late! Well, I guess it's time for a warm up! Twice around the field! Chop chop!"

Halfway round the first lap, Speed found himself running with Calleigh.

"That… woman…" he panted, "Is way…too…cheerful!"

Calleigh frowned a little.

"You said that… about… me once!"

"You don't… look… too cheerful… now."

And by the end of the second lap, no one looked the slightest bit cheerful. Even Eric, who had been at the front for the entire run, was exhausted.

"Right!" The too-cheerful teacher smiled breezily. "Time for a game of netball! We don't have much time!"

If they had had the energy, a groan might have gone around the class, but they just nodded silently in agreement, like they were trying their best to make it look like they had been listening, but in actual fact they had not heard a word.

Five minutes later, the class had been separated into two groups. Each group was split in half again to form two, small-sided games.

"Okay, just let me put you into two equal teams. Delko and Duquesne, you can be the shooting duo in this team. Wolfe, Woods, one of you is Wing Attack and the other is Wing Defence. Choose between yourselves. Hagen; Goal Defence. Boa Vista, you take Goal Keeper."

Calleigh grinned at Eric when they were put on the same team, but groaned when Hagen's name was called.

"Don't worry Calleigh. He's defence; you're attack. You aren't even allowed in the same areas of the court."

"That's true," Calleigh agreed, as she put on the blue bib with the letters GS: Goal Shooter, on the front.

Eager to change the subject, Eric decided to start talking tactics. He outlined his plan to Calleigh.

"Sounds good, but I get the feeling that you have ulterior motives for wanting to do that plan." She flashed him one of her hundred-watt smiles, telling him with her expression that she didn't mind and 'ulterior motives' that he might have.

At that moment, Alexx approached where they were standing, away from the main group.

"What are you two giggling about?" she asked when she saw huge grins on both their faces.

"Oh nothing," said Eric. "Just our foolproof scoring strategy."

"Honey, it better be foolproof… then maybe you two will pull it off!"

Calleigh put on an expression of mock-hurt at Alexx's comment, but Alexx continued.

"What is this winning plan anyway? Do I get to see it?"

"You gotta wait, like everyone else!" Calleigh told her.

Alexx held her hands up in mock defeat. "Okay, okay! But we'd better win, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, she stepped up to mark Speed, who was playing Wing Defence for the opposition.

Everyone was in position, ready to play. Calleigh looked at Eric and though that maybe, the game of netball, that promised to be sweaty but quit dull, wouldn't be too bad after all.

And the whistle blew.

The ball moved around the court with ease and it wasn't long before Alexx had the ball and was ready to pass to Calleigh.

"Eric!" Calleigh called, ready to put their master plan into action.

In under a second, both Eric and Calleigh were ready for Alexx's pass, confident that they were about to score.

Alexx was about to pass Calleigh the ball; she took two steps forward and-

The whistle blew.

"Free throw to the red team! Miss Woods, you cannot move with the ball. Only pivot, remember?"

Alexx blushed and nodded.

Speed took the throw, an accurate pass to Valera, and the game continued.

"Sorry," Alexx mumbled to Eric when the ball was out of her area and she had a free moment.

"Hey, no problem," he told her. "There will be other chances."

Suddenly a shriek was heard from the far corner. Most of the players were crowded around something on the floor.

Eric and Alexx exchanged looks before leaving their areas and seeing for themselves what was going on. They elbowed their way to the front of the group and found Maxine Valera crouched on the floor with blood pouring from her nose. Ryan was sitting next to her, talking, very fast, in a worried tone.

"I didn't mean to! I mean, I was passing to Hagen and then Valera was in the way and I didn't mean to hit her but I threw the ball before I saw her and I'm really sorry and I really hope I didn't break her nose and-"

"That's enough, Wolfe. Take her to the first aid room," the teacher told him calmly.

He was silenced and nodded. Ryan got up and helped Valera up without another word and they started to make their way towards the main building of the school together.

Once they were out of earshot of the rest of their class, Ryan started to apologise again. "I'm sorry and I truly didn't see you and of course I didn't mean to hit you and-"

"Shud ub," Valera told him. She was holding her nose and couldn't talk properly.

"But I'm really-"

"I dow!"

Ryan shut up for a few moments before speaking again.

"Thank you for pointing me in the right direction for the toilets at lunch. You were really helpful."

"You're welcob."

There was almost a minute of silence this time.

"I was also wondering if you'd like to go to the Prom with me," Ryan said, very quickly.

Valera stopped walking and glanced sideways at him. It was quite hard to do, since she had her head tipped back and her hand over her nose, but she did her best.

"Cuttig it a bit fine aren'tsh you?"

"Well…"

"Okay. I'll go with you."

"Really?" Ryan looked so surprised that someone had said yes when he asked them out, that Valera almost pitied him.

"Yesh. Now can we pleashe get to the firsht aid room?"

Ryan smiled gently, pulled a tissue from his pocket and carefully started to clean Valera's face of blood. Valera closed her eyes as his hand closed tenderly over hers as he removed her hand from her face. Her fingers felt warm in his hand as he gently dabbed at the wet blood around Valera's mouth and nose.

When the blood was gone, Ryan ran his fingers over Valera's lips and she opened her eyes.

The eye contact was brief, but electric. They both felt something they'd never felt before.

And then they both looked away, breaking the spell.

Ryan held out his arm in a most gentlemanly and uncharacteristic way and said "Let me walk you to the bathroom Mme. Your face is a bit of a mess."

"Thank you kind sir," Valera replied, matching his haughty manner as she slipped her arm around his. "I'll let you walk me to the bathroom."

--------------------

When they returned to the netball game five minutes later, they found out that Ryan's team had scored three points and Valera's team had scored only one. ("They are useless without me," Valera declared.)

Unfortunately, Eric and Calleigh had not yet had a chance to show off their master plan, as much to Alexx's disappointment as their own. But their chance came about two minutes after Ryan and Valera returned.

Alexx and Ryan had done some clever passing to get the ball to their attacking third and Eric nodded to both Alexx and Calleigh. They both knew what was coming.

Alexx passed to Eric who seemed to be just about to catch the ball when he bent his knees slightly. Calleigh, who was positioned just behind Eric, jumped, caught the ball and landed in a piggy-back on Eric. Calleigh then shifted her weight onto Eric's hands and sat on his shoulders. With a big grin on his face, he covered the short distance so that the hoop was in easy reach of Calleigh's outstretched arms. She promptly dropped the ball through the net and scored a point.

"What is the meaning of this!"

Eric looked around to see their teacher storming towards them.

"Uh…" said Calleigh.

"Er…" said Eric.

"Eric? You'd better put me down," Calleigh whispered to him as their teacher's advance came ever closer.

"Oh right. Yeah."

He knelt down, allowing Calleigh to climb off his shoulders and put her feet on solid ground, just as their teacher reached them, fuming.

"I have _never,_ in twenty years of refereeing netball matches, seen such an illegal tactic used to score a point."

"Um, actually, Miss, it wasn't illegal," Calleigh offered.

"Yeah," Eric added. "She didn't move her feet from the spot they were when she caught the ball! No rules broken."

"No rules broken? _No rules_ _broken,_ Mr Delko? Netball is a strictly _non-contact _sport!"

Eric's mouth formed a small 'O' shape, while Calleigh's face showed sudden understanding.

"Now," the teacher said. "Time to separate the dream team, as it were. Duquesne, you trade with Salas and Delko, you trade with Boa Vista. Let's see how you two function when you are playing against each other."

The bibs were obediently traded and they got into their new positions. Calleigh, a little annoyed to be playing directly against Eric, scowled and passed the ball a little harder.

When she got the ball that is.

With Eric marking her, it was difficult enough for her to receive a pass, let alone pass again. He was faster than her and taller than her and generally better at sports than she was.

And this made her even more determined to score.

--------------------

It was less than five minutes until the end of the lesson and the score was tied at five each.

Since the changes in the teams, the level of competitiveness had risen dramatically. So much, in fact, that no-one noticed the heat or the bright light in their eyes. They were all determined to win, because one team had to.

Horatio sent Calleigh a quick pass from close to the backline and suddenly, Calleigh was in a position to score. Somehow, she'd lost Eric, her marker, and was alone in the 'D'.

She put out her left arm for aim and leant back to build up power and was just about to shoot when…

"Eric!"

He was towering over her, blocking the ball's path to the net.

With the height difference, the scene was quite funny, but with the seconds ticking away, Calleigh knew she had to act fast.

She noticed Horatio out of the corner of her eye and formed a plan.

"Eric, this really isn't fair. You have an advantage!"

"Oh and it's my fault that you're short?" he retorted.

"Hey! It's not me that's too small; the rest of the world is too big!"

"It's so cute when you talk like that," Eric told her in a lower tone, so only she could hear.

Calleigh saw her chance.

She bounced the ball to her right and Horatio caught it quickly. As soon as the ball left her hands, Calleigh dodged around Eric and was ready for the return pass.

Again, she was in space and ready too shoot with the ball in her hand.

This time she didn't wait… she threw the ball as best she could at the hoop before Eric was able to block.

"Yes!" she shouted as the ball slipped through the hoop and bounced on the floor, seconds before the whistle was blown to mark the end of the game.

--------------------

The group headed wearily back to the changing rooms. They walked in twos or threes and Eric and Calleigh brought up the rear.

Eric's muscular arm was draped over Calleigh's shoulder and she held his hand tightly as they walked.

"You played well," Eric said, suddenly.

Calleigh, as modest as ever, replied, "I know! But thank you."

They entered the changing room building and were standing in the deserted corridor between the two separate rooms.

"I'll wait for you when I'm changed," Eric said.

"Okay, I'll be right out," Calleigh said brightly.

She made to disappear into the girl's changing rooms, but suddenly had an afterthought. She turned back and gave Eric a quick kiss on the lips. Nothing more.

Then she left without a backwards glance.

Eric shook his head slightly wondering how he had managed to get a girlfriend that was kind and sweet and hot, all at the same time.

He was still pondering this mystery five minutes later when he met up with Calleigh, once they were both changed.

"Right," Calleigh said, matter-of-factly. "Where now? Let's go find somewhere to sit."

They walked together out of the building into the mid-afternoon sun and onto the large field.

Horatio, Yelina, Speed, Alexx, Ryan and Valera were already there everyone was congratulating Ryan on finally getting a date for the prom.

"Ah wow!" said Calleigh, sitting down with them. "Who?"

Ryan put an arm around Valera's waist by a way of answering.

"Tell me everything!"

This was directed at Valera more than Ryan.

"Well, okay. It started with Ryan wiping blood from my nose and then he just asked me out!"

"No! I asked you out before I wiped away the blood!" Ryan said, indignantly.

"You're already arguing like a married couple!" Speed pointed out. "What are you going to be like in three years time, if this works out?"

"I dread to think!" Ryan muttered.


	8. Swimming, or something more sinister?

Okay, this chapter has an Instant Message convo (but only for a small part!).

**0.o** is a confused and shocked face.

**ROFLMAO **is "rolling on the floor laughing my ass off"

**Lol** is "laugh out loud"

**ffs **is "for fuck's sake"

I also gave people funky internet names, so:

Calleigh is **Bulletgrl **

Eric is **ScubaDoobie**

Horatio is **SunglassesOfJustice**

Yelina is **Curly1**

Speed is **Speeed**

Alexx is **ICanSeeYourInsides**

Ryan is **Wolfie**

Hagen is **RugerGP100**

I think that's everyone! Okay, so this is an early christmas present to anyone who happens to read it! Merry Christmas! Have a good one!

"Oh yeah!! Cover lesson!!" cheered Eric as he threw himself into a swivel chair next to a computer. The rest of the class bundled through the door behind him and found their seats. Within seconds, everyone had logged on and were surfing the internet or loading up "Instant Messenger". By the time the teacher actually got into the room, after herding the last few students into the class (and waiting for Ryan… he got lost again), most people were to engrossed in whatever game they were playing to notice his arrival.

Suddenly their screens went black.

"Now I have your attention, can we begin the lesson?"

The teacher was standing at the front of the class, with the plug in one hand.

--------------------

"Okay, so I'm not your normal teacher for this lesson, but you still have to do some work…"

Calleigh and Eric rolled their eyes at each other; the teacher had been droning on for the last five minutes about what he expected them to complete in the lesson and how their behaviour was unacceptable. His voice had a monotone that could send a class into a stupor very quickly.

Speed and Valera were playing hangman in the back of Speed's exercise book, Yelina was sitting on Horatio's lap and Ryan was trying to prise the ESC key out of his keyboard.

"…now, I am going to bring around a seating plan to make sure you are all sitting in the right seats. Anyone that isn't, will have their names mentioned to your teacher and will be receiving detention from me!"

Everyone glanced around… none of them were sitting in the right place.

"Who sits here normally?" Calleigh whispered to the people sitting around her.

--------------------

"What's your name?"

"Horatio," Calleigh announced proudly. "My name is Horatio." She shot him one of her widest grins, before he moved to the person behind her.

He made his way around the whole class, while everyone gave their false names. Some were funnier than most; Speed changing his name to Alexx was believable, but Yelina trying to tell him why she was called "Tim-bolina" was quite entertaining for those around her.

It took a good five minutes more than it should to take the seating plan, mainly because of people's interesting explanations of where they got their unusual names. When the teacher, Mr O'Neil, finally got around to Eric, everyone had started fidgeting again.

"I'm Max," Eric said, holding out his hand. Calleigh hastily stifled a giggle at the posh accent that Eric was putting on.

O'Neil looked down at his seating plan and then back at Eric.

"There's no 'Max' on this plan. And this seat belongs to someone called Maxine. You cannot tell me that you are really a girl."

"Well…"

--------------------

A few minutes later Eric came back, closely followed by the teacher, who was looking slightly shocked.

"Did he buy it?" Calleigh asked eagerly.

"Yup!" replied Eric with a grin.

"What did you tell him?" Speed called from the row behind.

"I just told him that I used to be a girl, but I had a sex change and now I'm Max, not Maxine."

--------------------

**Bulletgrl**: Hey y'all

**Wolfie**: Hi Cal

**Bulletgrl**: Hi

**ScubaDoobie**: Get out of here Ryan

**Bulletgrl**: Don't be mean

**SunglassesOfJustice**: Lay off him Eric

**ScubaDoobie**: Fine

**ScubaDoobie**: Sheesh

Wolfie has just sent you a nudge!

**SunglassesOfJustice**: Ryan!

**Bulletgrl**: Ryan!  
**ScubaDoobie**: Ryan!

**Curly1**: Ryan!

**SunglassesOfJustice**: Yelina…

**Curly1:** Horatio…

**Bulletgrl**: Shall we leave you two alone?

**ScubaDoobie**: Calleigh…

**SunglassesOfJustice**: Maybe it's you two we should be "leaving alone"

**Speeeed**: Are you two going to tell us what happened in the store cupboard?

**ScubaDoobie**: …

**Bulletgrl**: …

**RugerGP100**: Anything he could do, I could do better and you know it babe

**Bulletgrl**: Euw

**ScubaDoobie**: You wish…

**RugerGP100**: My mother taught me not to lie and every word I speak is the truth

**ScubaDoobie**: Well, did your mother teach you when to leave a girl alone?

**Bulletgrl**: Oh ffs!

Bulletgrl has blocked RugerGP100

**ScubaDoobie**: Why didn't I think of that?

ScubaDoobie has blocked RugerGP100

**Speeed**: Okay, back to the more pressing topic…

**ICanSeeYourInsides**: Yeah… what did happen in that store cupboard?

**Speeeed**: We're dying to know…

**Bulletgrl:** Are you sure?

**Wolfie**: Yes!

**SunglassesOfJustice**:Yes!

**Speeeed**: Hell yeah!

**ICanSeeYourInsides**: You can tell us!

**ScubaDoobie**: Shall we..?

**Bulletgrl**: You can

**Speeeed**: Cut to the chase! Did you or didn't you?

**Bulletgrl**: Maybe…

**Speeeed**: OMG you did!!

**Bulltgrl**: Did I say that?

**ScubaDoobie**: So what if we did?

**Bulletgrl**: Eric! Now they know!

**Speeeed**: Woohoo!!

**Curly1**: What did I miss?

**Speeeed**: Only the confession of the century!

**Curly1**: They didn't!

**Speeeed**: They did! ROFLMAO

**Curly1**: In the store cupboard? The one with the condoms?

**ScubaDoobie**: Yeah

**Bulletgrl**: Don't worry… we made use of them!

**SunglassesOfJustice**: I should hope so!

**Bulletgrl**: O.o

**ScubaDoobie**: Lol

**Bulletgrl**: Moving swiftly on…

**Bulletgrl**: …

**Bulletgrl**: Someone say something!

**Speeed**: In a cupboard lol

**TeacherNet:** If anyone is still online in the next ten seconds, they will be in detention until christmas.

--------------------

About ten minutes after being forced offline by the teacher, the tanoy system rang out.

"As you all know, tonight is the prom. The school staff expects you to be on your best behaviour tonight…"

"I didn't even know we had a tanoy at this school," Calleigh muttered to Eric. She decided that she'd broken enough rules during that day and that missing out on a behaviour lecture wouldn't get into any more trouble.

"… and on a lighter note," the tinny tanoy continued. "We're finishing school half an hour early to give you a chance to get your prom outfits ready!"

The bell sounded, signalling that it was time for them to leave and, chattering like monkeys, they did.

--------------------

Half an hour later, they were making their way home. They walked slowly; they were in no hurry.

"Hey, anyone want to go swimming later?" Eric asked nonchalantly as they walked through the city. He expected a tirade of people complaining about swimming and how he would just want to race them all, but to his surprise, his idea welcomed.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Calleigh replied. "Right guys?"

"Sure," agreed Speed, "As long as you don't race."

"Sounds good to me!"

--------------------

They headed home to fetch their swimming things and met up at the pool half an hour later.

Calleigh grinned to herself as they went through the double-doors to the pool. She was about to get in the pool with Eric. Sure, she'd seen pictures of him swimming, but that couldn't even come close to how good the real thing must look. And, as Eric's girlfriend, she could touch him if she felt the urge, which she probably would. She was only human after all.

Once she was changed, Calleigh put her bag and clothes into a locker and started to head to the poolside. Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into another cubical. She wanted to scream but her mouth was covered. Her attacker turned her around so that they were facing each other and she giggled. It was Eric.

"Not again Eric," she muttered playfully as he kissed her neck. "We've already done this once today…"

"True," muttered Eric. "But a pool cubical is a whole different type of cupboard…"

Calleigh laughed again but Eric quickly silenced her with a kiss.

When they broke apart, they were breathless and hot.

"We don't want to be heard now, do we?" Eric whispered, stepping closer to her. Their near-naked bodies pressed together, skin on skin.

Their lips were locked when Calleigh came back to her senses.

"Eric, stop."

She put her hands on his chest and pushed them apart so they had a few centimetres of breathing space.

"We can't do this Eric… not here."

He nodded.

"Yeah I guess you're right. It's a little warm in here don't you think?"

"I do! Let's go and cool down…"

They left the cubical together, drawing some curious looks, and indeed some jealous ones, as they headed out to the pool.

With Eric's muscular body and coffee coloured skin next to Calleigh's Caucasian beauty, they looked more like a Hollywood Couple than a pair of teenagers.

Eric was eager to get into the water, despite having Calleigh to distract him from his favourite sport, swimming. He was just as eager to share to share his love for swimming with her; to show her the magic of being underwater and how it made everything seem so much more… intimate.

When they got on poolside, Eric headed straight for the deep end so he could dive in while Calleigh climbed in at the shallow end and waded out to where Alexx, Horatio, Yelina and Speed were standing.

"Where's Eric?" Alexx asked.

"Oh, he's coming," replied Calleigh, pointing to the other end of the pool, where Eric was swimming. They turned their attention back to their conversation.

After about ten minutes, the splashing made by Eric swimming died down. Calleigh noticed the sudden silence more than others and turned around to see where he had gone. She suddenly realised that they were the only people in the pool.

"Speed? Where's Eric?" she asked.

Speed tried to keep the smirk off his face while he answered; "Maybe he went to the toilet or something." He had just seen Eric dive under and start swimming towards the group.

Calleigh turned back to her friends but only seconds later, Eric joined them.

He announced his arrival but swimming up to them, underwater, and hugging Calleigh from behind and lifting her feet off the floor. She let out a small cry of surprise while everyone else laughed. Eric then picked Calleigh up so he was cradling her across his chest and her arms were around his neck.

"I'm going to drop you," he threatened teasingly.

"No! Eric don't you dare!" Calleigh told him.

It was no use however. He just lifted her a little higher and released her and she fell into the water with a splash that soaked Speed.

"You're going to pay for that, Eric!" Speed yelled and he splashed Eric back. Unfortunately, it missed and hit Ryan, who had just arrived with Valera. He retaliated by pushing a wave towards Speed, who ducked, causing the full force of the wave to be inflicted on Horatio. He used his legs to kick up the water, soaking no-one in particular. Instantly, everyone in the pool joined in the water fight. Alexx and Yelina had managed to get hold of some water bombs and were throwing them at anyone and everyone and Valera had ducked underwater and was sneaking up on people and soaking them.

After a few minutes of vicious fighting in which everyone got well and truly soaked and Valera nearly got another serious nosebleed, everyone calmed down and stood, panting, by the walls of the pool.

"Well that was fun," Horatio muttered to Yelina, who had come to rest with him. Her hair was soaked from being ducked underwater so many times and it was nearly hanging straight. They heard a lot of noise suddenly erupt from the other end of the pool and turned to see Alexx get thrown in at the deep end by Eric and Speed and they laughed a little, but decided that they'd prefer to stay in the shallow end and just talk.

Alexx climbed out, scowling at Eric and Speed.

"That was unfair!" she told them as she shook the excess water from her hair.

"Ah well," Speed shrugged. "Life's not fa-"

As Speed spoke, Alexx took her chance. She tackled him, causing them both to fall into the water. They surfaced a moment later, coughing and spluttering and laughing all at once and they had somehow managed to end up in each other's arms. They stopped laughing and for a moment, they looked into each other's eyes, lost to the world.

The moment didn't last long however.

"Oi lovebirds! Break it up!" yelled Eric before bombing into the water and sending a tidal wave their way.

"Hey," said Speed once he had surfaced beside them. "We don't break up your moments!"

--------------------

Eric, Calleigh, Speed and Alexx were walking home so they could get ready for the prom. They reached Calleigh's house first and she and Eric kissed briefly before she ran to her front door. Next they came to Eric's house.

"Eric? Can I kiss you goodbye, or can only your mum and Calleigh get away with that?" Speed asked, pouting his lips.

Eric scowled. "Drop it, will you?"

"Hey," Speed put his hands up in mock defeat. "I did warn you that I was never going to forget it!"

"Yeah, I know. See you guys later," Eric said before heading to his house.

Speed and Alexx walked in silence for a few minutes until Speed couldn't bear it any longer.

"Alexx, I…"

She stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Yes?"

"I don't know." Speed sighed and kept walking.

They went on, feeling even more uneasy than they had before.

They both knew what they wanted, but neither knew how to bridge the gap between them to make it happen.

Alexx was the one who eventually made the first move. She reached over and slipped her hand into his and they both felt the tension melt away.

They walked silently, hand in hand, until they reached Alexx's house.

Speed tried to say what he had wanted to say earlier.

"Alexx. I…"

This time, Alexx shushed him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

With his lips occupied, he couldn't do much talking, but Alexx's actions said enough for both of them.


	9. Dressing Up

Hagen looked out of his window across the street to the house opposite. He could see that the front bedroom light was on and occasionally he saw shadows move in the room, but he couldn't make them out through the curtains. But he knew who was in there, and could only wish that he was in there too…

He noticed some movement out of the corner of his eyes and looked down at the street to see Alexx Woods walk up Calleigh's path. Moments later, the door opened and Hagen saw Calleigh, silhouetted in the doorway against the dimming light outside. She was wearing a pair of red sweats and a white strappy top. Her feet were bare and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Hagen took in the image for a few seconds until the door was shut.

A glimpse was all he wanted. He wasn't going to the prom; there was no point. He could have got a date if he'd wanted, but he wouldn't have got the date he wanted. He just wanted to see Calleigh again. So he had something he could dream about…

--------------------

"Wow Alexx! This is amazing!" Calleigh exclaimed as she pulled a dress out of the bag that Alexx had brought. The plum velvet was silky smooth against Calleigh's hands as she held it up to her front and looked in the mirror.

"Can I see you in it?" Calleigh asked Alexx.

"Hey, make up first! And I haven't even seen your dress yet…"

Alexx started digging through Calleigh's closet until she found what she was looking for.

"No way! Calleigh, are you wearing this?" Alexx exclaimed as she held the dress out to Calleigh.

"Yup," Calleigh replied with a devilish smirk.

"Honey, Eric will die when he sees you in this!" Alexx marvelled.

Calleigh just smirked again. "Make up?"

Forty-five minutes later, they were both ready to head out to the prom and both looked amazing. Alexx was pulling at her dress in Calleigh's full length mirror and Calleigh was adding the finishing touches to her hair when the doorbell rang. They grinned at each other before heading downstairs to meet their dates.

--------------------

At the same time, Yelina was also ready to head to the prom. She was dressed up in a red flamenco-style dress with her curly hair flowing down her back. She looked like a traditional Spanish dancer, just flown over from Spain.

At first she had been a little embarrassed about wearing the dress, because it left one of her shoulders bare, but tried it on anyway and found that it quite suited her and that she really liked the tight bodice and long tiered skirt.

Suddenly her mother called up the stairs that Horatio was there to walk the short walk to the school with her, so she hastily put on her high black court shoes and headed downstairs. Her mother hugged her and her father bent down and kissed her on the cheek before she left, on Horatio's arm. Only once they were on the street out of sight of Yelina's house did either of them speak.

"Yelina, I'm speechless…" Horatio began. He paused while he looked for a way to word what he wanted to say.

"I didn't know the meaning of beautiful until I saw you tonight,"

They stopped walking and Horatio gently turned Yelina to face him, so he could look into her eyes.

"Yelina, I think I'm in love with you."

--------------------

Speed and Eric were starting to show signs of nerves as they approached Calleigh's front door.

"Alright, let's ring the bell."

"Hey, they're girls! They need a few more minutes right?"

"You're right. Five minutes more."

They paced around outside, anxiously for five minutes until they couldn't put it off any longer.

"Okay, let's ring the bell."

Eric rang and they heard a quiet chime from inside the house and immediately after, they heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Here we go," Speed muttered.

Alexx opened the door with a smile.

"You look great!" Speed grinned as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Yup," Eric told her as he glanced nervously up the stairs.

"Calleigh's just coming baby," she told Eric, reading his mind. Only a second later, they heard footsteps on the floor above and then Calleigh came into view at the top of the stairs.

Eric's jaw dropped…

* * *

_Hah you have to wait until the next chapter to see Calleigh's dress! Mwhaha mainly because I have no idea how it's going to look either! So, if anyone has any ideas about what her dress should look like, let me know!_

_The alert system wasn't working when I published my last chapter so I thought I'd got no reivews. But I found some so yay happy. _

_Prom next chapter! Yay! But that means that next chapter is the last one! _

_Sorry about Hagen's random stalkerness at the beginning... I don't know what that's all about. Meh._

_Until next chapter! Cara xxx_


	10. Prom Night

**hfdakdh\sdk hfgs djf9eruy**

**I fainted out of surprise at myself for updating and my head hit the keyboard.**

**So, shock shock horror horror, I finally finished it. Now I've got to go and do a history exam, so wish me luck and enjoy. And review, of course.**

* * *

"Wow," Eric stammered. "You look… wow."

Calleigh beamed and stepped into her shoes, wobbling slightly at the sudden change of height. While she held onto the banister for balance, Eric took in the view: the off-the-shoulder strap; the figure-hugging fabric; her blonde hair bouncing off her shoulders; her lightly made up face; her green eyes…

"Shall we go?" she asked, breaking into Eric's stupor as she walked towards him with her Dad close behind.

The five of them, including Speed and Alexx, headed to where Kenwall Duquesne's range-rover was parked. He helped his daughter into the front seat while Alexx and Speed took the near and middle seats in the back, forcing Eric to walk round and sit behind the driver. He was just about to open the door and step in when the driver stopped him.

"Listen son," he began. "I'd rather you didn't do anything to compromise my daughter's honour tonight" – Eric's mind drifted back to their moment in the cupboard of contraception and he grinned a little – "but I know that she's old enough to make her own decisions now. Even so…"

Eric looked down. In Kenwall's hand was a small square package… a condom! Eric silenced a laugh as he slipped it into his pocket.

"Look after her," Kenwall muttered with a wry wink.

"I will sir," Eric replied sincerely.

They both got into the car and it wasn't long before they pulled up at the school gates. When they arrived in the hall, the dancing had not started, so all the girls ran off to one side of the hall, while the guys gathered on the other.

Eric and Speed went to stand with Horatio, who was just returning from fetching a drink.

"Hey H," Eric greeted. "You want a drink Speed?"

"Sure, okay."

Eric left Speed and Horatio alone and headed to the punchbowl.

"You seen Calleigh yet?" Speed muttered as soon as Eric was out of earshot.

"Not yet," replied Horatio and speed gave a sharp intake of breath.

"That good?" asked Horatio. "What's she wearing?"

"Brown dress; blue frills; off the shoulder strap; figure hugging…"

Horatio was about to reply but…

"Hey that's my girlfriend you're talking about!" Eric interrupted good-naturedly.

"Sorry mate," replied Speed with a grin. "So, what's Yelina wearing?"

"A flamenco dress. She looks amazing. And Alexx?"

"Dark purple. Strapless. Floor-length."

All three nodded in appreciation of the outfits all the girls had come dressed in.

At that moment, music filled the hall and the separate groups of girls and guys started to mix. Calleigh walked toward the three guys, arm in arm with Alexx and Yelina.

"Hey," she nodded to Horatio before turning to Eric.

"Shall we dance?"

She took hold of his arm and they disappeared into the throng of people already jigging and swaying on the dance floor.

Alexx and Speed left too, leaving Horatio and Yelina alone for the first time since Horatio's confession.

They danced together for a while, enjoying the fun, fast tracks that were playing. It wasn't until a slow track came on and Horatio pulled Yelina into his arms that she started to feel a little odd about what had been said on the way to the prom.

"Horatio, I…"

He silenced her with a finger on her lips.

"Let's just dance now, okay? We'll talk later."

Yelina silently obliged and allowed him to pull her body right up next to his. She put one arm around his waist and her head against his shoulder, so she wouldn't have to make eye contact while she thought about all she had to say.

She had known Horatio longer than she'd known anyone and, of course, she was more in love with him than anyone else she'd ever met, but didn't know how to tell him.

The music stopped and Horatio let go of her shoulders, looking down at her expectantly.

"It's about what you said earlier, Horatio."

Horatio nodded silently, and Yelina leant forward, closing the already immeasurable gap between them.

Yelina went on: "I just wanted to…uh…"

She stopped speaking the moment her lips touched his. They were soft and warm, just as she had expected. Seemingly out of her control, her hands reached up and tangled themselves in his hair and her eyes fluttered closed.

Quite some time later, when they had both ran out of breath, Yelina stepped back a little. Horatio was smiling down at her, which gave her confidence for what she had to say.

"I love you Horatio," she said, so quietly it was almost inaudible; the only person that heard it was the only one that needed to.

Unbeknownst to them, Alexx and Speed had watched the whole display from the other side of the hall.

"Wow," Speed muttered. "That was pretty hot."

Alexx giggled.

"Wanna give that a try?" he asked.

"No thanks sugar. Don't want to embarrass ourselves do we! If we can find somewhere more private however…" She answered with a devilish wink.

Speed laughed and took Alexx's hand. Together, they headed towards the other end of the hall, passing Eric and Calleigh on the way, who were slow-dancing, rocking backwards and forwards to the music.

"Where are you going after graduation, Eric?" Calleigh asked, mentioning a date that had once seemed so far off, but was now only a week away.

"University of Miami," he replied proudly. "I got a sport scholarship!"

"Ooh! Me too!" replied Calleigh excitedly. "Well, not the sport scholarship."

Eric chuckled.

"What?"

"You're so cute when you're excited," replied Eric with a flirtatious grin.

Calleigh pouted and hit him lightly on the arm

"What?" Eric exclaimed defensively. "You are!"

Calleigh laughed and shook her head a little. Eric bent down a little lower and mumbled; "It's one of the things I love about you."

Calleigh's cheeks blushed a furious red so Eric placed a kiss on each one.

She blushed even darker, but this time, she smiled.

--------

Ryan and Valera were sitting on one of the benches at the side of the hall, exhausted from the dancing.

Suddenly, they heard a noise overhead.

"What is that?" asked Ryan, confused.

"I don't know," replied Valera, looking around, puzzled.

She looked out of the window and returned with a grin on her face.

She pulled Ryan onto the dance floor again as a song that was familiar to everyone exploded out of the speakers.

They started to dance and Valera started to mouth the words.

"It's raining… on prom night…"


End file.
